Ten Fun Things To Do When The Internet Is Down

Many, many of our listeners and readers were affected by the recent nation-wide outage of CenturyLink services. Our station was affected, and thanks to a recent upgrade to an unlimited data plan, I was able to continue working with my mobile hotspot. Not everyone was so lucky. 911 services were down in parts of the country, medical centers had issues connecting to their patient records, and community services were hindered. We were lucky that all we had was an inconvenient couple of days at work, but in the future, here are some ways to have fun when the internet is down.

10. Call Your Mom.

No really. Your mom would love to hear from you, and unless you only have a landline that is provided by the same company that messed up your internet connectivity, chances are you can call her up and tell her about your day, ask her for recipe advice, maybe even gossip with her about what's going on in the area. Moms always know the good gossip.

9. Frequently Check To See If The Net Is Back Up.

I know you just checked a few seconds ago, but surely it's changed by now, right? I did this in the extreme last night when I had to drive back to the station a few time to check the connectivity (It wasn't back yet.)

8. Whip Out An Actual Board Game.... Or Wine. Probably Just Wine.

When was the last time you played the Game of Life or Yahtzee? When was the last time you finished off a bottle of wine by yourself out of frustration? Why not kill two birds with one stone?

7. Let Your Furry Friend Keep You Entertained

If you have a cat, obviously the first step is to obtain a laser pointer. The second step is to use that laser pointer to get hours of entertainment. Take your dog for a walk- they would almost certainly love it. Play with them in the yard! Or just cuddle them until the scary red light stops blinking on the Wi-Fi Router.

6. Read a Book!

Good news! Even if the internet is down, the local public library is probably still open. They do this cool thing where they lend a book to you to read and all you have to do is bring it back on time! Or, alternatively, read that stack of books you've had sitting in your living room for months as you tell yourself you're going to read more this year.

5. Stay On Hold With The Internet Service Provider - Indefinitely.

If you had the misfortune of calling CenturyLink during this last monumental outage, then you know that they were experiencing insane wait times. Some people never even got through. Others that did were told "We're working on it," and promptly hung up on. So why not have fun with their waiting music and stay on hold indefinitely while you try to find out where the Internet has gone.

4. Watch Paint Dry.

Just as fun as the above option. Trust me.

3. Use ALL of Your Mobile Data. All of It.

If you don't happen to have an unlimited plan, well, I guess it's time to use as much of that data as you can spare while you browse Facebook and commiserate with others who have tragically had their internet connectivity taken from them.

2. Finally Organize Those Cabinets. For Real This Time.

You know you said you were going to do it last spring, and you totally meant it but never got around to it. Is there still a container of bread crumbs in there from that time you made meatballs a few months ago? Have they gone stale at this point? Time to really do it. For real. Honestly.

1. Play the "Internet Connectivity T-Rex Game" on Google Chrome.

This one is actually fun. Google Chrome has built in a game you can play on their 404 page when there isn't an internet connection available. Hours of endless entertainment! The thrills! Will the T-Rex make it on its journey through the platform game in your malfunctioning browser? Only time will tell.